National Communication Museum - The Blades

User Experience: The Blades were designed to reveal the human stories within heritage objects—bringing wonder to the everyday. We asked: could The Blades feel responsive to visitor presence, making each person feel like a node in an active network, and the building feel ‘alive’? User experience was embedded from the outset, involving curatorial, collections, digital and spatial design, and fabrication teams.

Form: The design thoughtfully reinterpreted the building’s industrial heritage through a refined aesthetic, using off-the-shelf cable trays and glass to create sculptural Blades that served as deconstructed showcases. These elements blended seamlessly into the existing architecture, maintaining historical integrity while introducing a bold, contemporary design language. The double-sided projection mapping and floating display cases contributed to a cinematic, visually striking environment that felt both grounded in history and future-facing.

Function: Intuitive and accessible, the experience used familiar interaction methods—such as a modernised rotary dial—and proximity sensors that triggered content hands-free. The Blades supported immersive storytelling while meeting strict environmental controls for heritage objects. The design was both visually compelling and functionally robust, delivering on educational, operational, and preservation needs.

Safety: Accessibility was built into every layer of the design. The Blades complied with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and included embedded Auslan interpretation, closed captions, and audio description—ensuring safe, inclusive access for all. Quality: The Blades combined off-the-shelf products and bespoke high-quality materials and construction techniques to ensure durability and longevity. The digital build of the blades was templated, ensuring that they can serve as a long-term exhibition display where the storytelling and objects can be updated within the existing form.

Commerciality: As the museum’s iconic centrepiece, The Blades support NCM’s commercial goals by driving ticket sales and increasing attendance. Positioned near Swinburne University, they also reinforce NCM’s role as an educational and cultural hub.

The Blades exemplify design excellence through a sophisticated, multidimensional response to heritage interpretation. The project satisfies and exceeds the fundamental criteria for good design—blending functionality, accessibility, aesthetics, safety, quality, and sustainability into a bold, future-facing visitor experience.

Functionally, the design reimagines museum interaction. Inspired by the building’s industrial fabric, the Blades use off-the-shelf cable trays and glass to create sculptural, deconstructed showcases. These elements honour the past while embracing innovation. Integrated environmental controls ensure the safe preservation of heritage objects, while floating display cases and double-sided projection mapping deliver cinematic storytelling.

The user experience was embedded throughout the process—from curatorial to spatial and digital design—and achieved a seamless, holistic result. Interaction is intuitive, familiar, and meaningful. A central rotary dial, referencing legacy telecommunications technology, uses a modern rotary encoder to create an accessible and tactile interface.

This approach bridges generational gaps and was praised for enabling intergenerational learning in media reviews. Proximity sensors trigger content upon visitor approach, making the building feel responsive and ‘alive’ with messages, encouraging active and passive engagement.

Accessibility was a core design principle. The Blades meet Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) requirements and include embedded Auslan interpretation, closed captions, and audio description, ensuring inclusive access for all visitors.

In terms of quality and sustainability, the design merges off-the-shelf industrial components with bespoke detailing to create a durable system. The digital build was templated, allowing the museum to refresh storytelling and objects over time without structural change, extending the exhibition’s life and value.

The Blades set a new benchmark for museum and heritage design, not only in Victoria but nationally and internationally. By reimagining how storytelling, technology, and material history intersect, the project demonstrates the value of melding physical and digital design teams to create innovative and seamless modes of interaction and community engagement.

The Blades were conceived in response to a sector-wide challenge: how to reframe heritage as an immersive, emotionally resonant, and inclusive experience in the digital age, without sacrificing historical integrity or sustainability. Rather than rely on standard showcases or touchscreen kiosks, the team reimagined the exhibition architecture itself as a storytelling medium.

Using industrial cable trays and glass—materials commonly hidden in infrastructure—the project elevated these humble components into sculptural display forms. This material reuse wasn’t only symbolic; it was also practical, cost-effective, and sustainable, challenging assumptions around what museum design should look like. The storytelling approach was equally inventive.

By applying projection mapping to both sides of each Blade, content could unfold across multiple planes, encouraging visitors to move, circle, and linger. This broke from the convention of single-surface displays and created a sense of cinematic immersion within a confined footprint. Interaction is redefined through the use of a modernised rotary dial, offering tactile engagement that resonates across generations. Discreet Time of Flight sensors mounted above the users track when a user enters the space, and dissolves from an attract state into an active state. Similarly, when users leave it registers this and returns to an ambient state.

The mode of interaction paired with Time of Flight proximity sensors makes the experience feel responsive and alive, reducing the barrier to interaction and increasing accessibility for users of all ages. This integrated approach to materiality, technology, and interactivity not only enhances storytelling but also sets a new precedent for museum design—one where heritage, innovation, and user experience are inextricably linked.

The project demonstrates how considered, forward-thinking design can transform a historical site into a living, adaptive environment that meets the needs of today’s audiences while respecting the past.

The Blades demonstrate how thoughtful, innovative design can deliver long-term positive impact—socially, environmentally, and commercially. By repurposing industrial materials such as cable trays and glass, the project exemplifies circular design principles: minimising material waste, extending the life of everyday components, and reducing the environmental footprint of exhibition construction.

This adaptive reuse approach is paired with a templated digital and structural system, enabling ongoing content renewal without additional fabrication—supporting sustainable storytelling over time. Socially, the project has transformed NCM into a cultural hub. Its intuitive, intergenerational interface has improved public engagement, encouraging deeper understanding of complex subjects and sparking intergenerational dialogue. By embedding universal accessibility—from Auslan to audio description—The Blades provide a welcoming space for all visitors, strengthening community identity and increasing cultural inclusion.

Commercially, The Blades have elevated NCM’s visibility as a major destination. The project has attracted increased visitation, media coverage (including national news outlets), and new partnership opportunities. Its strategic location near Swinburne University has also enhanced its role as an educational asset, creating value for students, educators, and the broader public.

Importantly, The Blades set a new standard for what design-led heritage interpretation can achieve in Victoria and beyond. They demonstrate the power of investing in professional design to generate social good, support sustainability, and foster innovation. As a bold, future-facing example of circular, user-centred exhibition design, The Blades enhance the reputation of Victoria’s design and creative industries on a national and international stage.

The Blades are entirely modular and design for long-term display solutions. The objects can be replaced with new artefacts and the digital components are templated, meaning the content can continue to be updated as displays change as outlined above.